


Field Trip!

by CleverCatchphrase



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (no I'm not), Caves, Claustrophobia, Cleithrophobia, Field Trip, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, I don't know how PTAs work lol sorry, Linda is an irredeemable bitch, PTA Sans, Selectively Mute Frisk, Sorry guys, Stereotypes, but then it got dark, i don't know what happened, not so subtle racisim, subtle sexism, this was supposed to be funny and light hearted, three of the characters in this are named after my mom grandmother and aunt, very light swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 09:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7752364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CleverCatchphrase/pseuds/CleverCatchphrase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of the school year draws near, and with it the big fourth grade field trip and officer elections for the PTA. For the past decade, Linda has reined supreme with an iron fist, but now a new challenger approaches. Can Sans knock this wrinkle-cream wearing witch off of her broomstick? Or did he let himself get dragged into something, a bit <i>over his head?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Field Trip!

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said in the tags, I originally wanted to write a humerus one shot about PTA Sans on a field trip, but then this happened. I just don't know what went wrong.
> 
> Also, I don't know how PTAs work, but it sure as hell ain't like this. It's inexcusable for me to not know because I have the internet and my mom's a teacher, but FUCK IT.

The end of the spring semester was fast approaching, and with it the much anticipated fourth grade field trip.

Sure, the fourth grade classes had one or two outings throughout the year, but the end-of-school-year field trip was the granddaddy of them all. It was always the biggest, most extravagant, most budget-draining of all of the year’s events. It’s what all the fundraising had been leading up to; all the bake sales, all the magazine subscriptions, all the candles and gift wrap and nuts and all the other junk each kid was forced to sell to their relatives, who in turn left the order forms on the break room table of their office jobs for their coworkers to fill out before they picked it up at the end of the week. 

Picking the venue for the field trip had even sort of turned into a competition among the PTA members, with each new round of parents and guardians constantly trying to one-up what last year’s group had done. This year had to be extra over the top though, because it would be the first year the school went on the annual field trip with _monsters_ , so the parents wanted to have an excursion that would be _unbeatable_.

And that’s exactly what fifteen or so fourth grader moms were discussing in depth late into the evening in the school cafeteria one Tuesday night. 

Excuse me, make that fifteen moms… and Sans.

Sans sat at the end of the table with his feet up, much to the disgust and judgmental side-eyes of some of the older ladies. Whether it was because he was the only monster or the only male in the group that bothered them, Sans didn’t know or care, but he refused to let it get _under his skin._

 _Certainly helps that I don’t have any,_ he smirked, patting himself on the back for thinking up a joke in the dry, fun-sucking atmosphere.

“Is there something funny you’d like to let us in on, mister skeleton?” A nasally voice interrupted his thoughts.

Sans cracked open one eye socket only to be caught in the disapproving gaze of the middle-aged PTA ringleader.

_Linda._

Although she would swear to heaven and back that the PTA functioned as a democracy, anyone with eyes and an ounce of common sense would vouch without a doubt that Linda claimed the title of Supreme Overlord and Dictator for Life as the school’s public relations between the parents and the teachers. The woman had five kids which had all attended this elementary school, so she had the right to boast experience. The only problem was that all her kids were in college now, yet the school board refused to kick her out of the program. Sans was willing to bet that they couldn’t.

Both parents and teachers of school years past had tried to take a civil and fair approach to get her to relent power. At the end of every year there was a vote for next year’s officers, but all those who tried to run against Linda mysteriously “transferred” school districts by the upcoming fall. For the past decade the lady had reigned unopposed, installing rules and rigged politics to keep every parent in line and every guardian indentured to her until their kids moved on to middle school or moved away completely.

Sans wondered if there were any epics written magicians who tried to vanquish Linda in the margins of post-it notes and squirreled away in the archives of manila folders for destiny to find, or if ballads were secretly sung between class periods depicting the bloody war between the principal and his noble knights of administration banning together to slay this dragon of a woman only to fail, frying to a crisp beneath her hot temper and cheap perfume. Victorious, the serpent had cemented her position atop her hoard of fundraiser revenue, ruling with an iron fist and snuffing out the disloyal with razor-sharp claws. After a while, people had simply stopped fighting and came to accept their new lord and master. That is, until Sans came along.

When Toriel couldn’t become a member of the PTA because she was a guardian who was also a teacher (some bullshit rule Linda undoubtedly instated, claiming Toriel would show favoritism to her child instead of all her students) Sans had decided to fill in for her instead, and instantly recognized the dystopia the mad woman had created. Maybe valiant knights and sorcerers couldn’t vanquish this beast at her own game, but perhaps jester with a wild card up his sleeve could. 

Linda had griped and complained and petitioned, but for once the school committee didn’t yield to her demands. Instead they wanted to take bragging rights as the first district in the state to have integrated monster and human relationships, and from that minute on Linda had held a grudge against him. But Sans refused to cower at such prejudice. In fact, he was actually a pretty decent member of the team, always reliable to get the job done and lighten the mood.

Linda had tried to break Sans, he knew. On more than one occasion she had tried to sabotage him. Like when all the decorations for the Halloween party that Sans set up had been mysteriously ruined, he fixed it by substituting the festivities with magic bones, which all the kids claimed were five times scarier. When the Linda had put him in charge of gathering all the baked goods for the bake sales, Sans delivered. But when all the cookies and brownies went missing the next day, she tried to make him take the blame. No worries, though. Sans compromised by selling hot dogs instead, and the school actually made a bigger profit that year than in any prior. When the school carnival came around, Linda signed Sans up to be a clown that spun plates while they juggled, yet no matter how many times she “accidentally” jostled the loose boards of the stage while he performed, his dishes and juggling clubs never fell thanks to his telekinesis. 

But Sans would never just settle for sticking to the receiving end of their petty games. He would actively go out of his way just to get on Linda’s nerves. Every after-school event, talent show or play that required volunteers, Sans would sign up for if Linda would also be there. He always turned down any offers of carpooling, yet somehow still got to the event first, even on those days when Linda gave him the wrong date and time and even location for each venue. He always offered aid to any parent or teacher who needed it, regardless of their grade, which blatantly went against Linda’s rule that compartmentalized parents and teachers by the student’s year. He always gave great advice and promoted teamwork. It amused him to no end how frustrated she would get just by how _helpful_ and _responsible_ he always was.

Like it or not, many of the other parents looked to Sans for reassurance and back up and sometimes just for a quick laugh. Sans not only infuriated Linda, but the truth was he threatened her status. Linda saw the way all the other adults turned to Sans for guidance, and she was not deaf to the rumors about unanimous voting to make him president next fall. Sans was the only adult she had ever faced that she could not beat into submission. He refused to bow. He refused to blink. In fact, he wasn’t blinking right now.

“Well?” Linda asked again after a thirty second staring contest.

“Actually, Linda, I do find something funny. You’ve been harping on us for weeks to come up with potential places to go for this field trip, yet every suggestion we give, you constantly shoot down and belittle us for. How are we supposed to find “the perfect activity” if you won’t even let us get past our promo pitch?”

“Mister Sans, I’ll cut you some slack since this is your first year on _my_ PTA, but take it from me, I know what will make or break this field trip,” Linda said haughtily. “It’s not my goal to stifle anyone’s ideas. I’m simply trying to save us time by shooting down the ones that I know won’t work. Unless you want to waste everyone’s valuable time? Is that what you want, Sans? To take away precious minutes of our lives debating and arguing here in the school cafeteria instead of at home where we could be bonding and making memories with our children who, need I remind you, are rapidly aging before our eyes?”

“Oh, cry me a river, Linda,” Said Shaniqua, a heavily pregnant black woman who took orders from no one and was the only parent who openly stood at Sans’ side against Linda’s attacks. “In addition to my fourth grade daughter, I’ve got two screaming twins in preschool, my dead-beat cousin waiting for his “big break”, my mother-in-law, and a very under exercised dog under my roof. “At home” is the last place I want to be right now with a fourth baby expected any day now. Why do you think I come to all these after school meetings? It’s certainly not to hear your knives-on-glass voice.”

One of the other parents choked on a snort. Sans raised his hand in a high five, and Shaniqua didn’t leave him hanging.

Linda went beat red. Arguing with Sans was one thing. He was a guy and a _monster_ for crying out loud, but even Linda knew better than to fight with the minority representative, especially one who was expecting.

“Oh, so you want me to listen?” Linda forced a grin, fluttering her eyelids in a sickly-sweet manner. “Fine, I will. I’ll go around the table, and each of you suggest me something our kids can do that will be fun and educational in the field of science for the end of the year benchmark. But whatever you come up with, it better be bigger than the indoor skydiving trip we took last year. Donna! Go!”

And just like that, Linda began her interrogation, dragging each adult to the chopping block to cut off their heads and dissect their proposals before scrapping each one to the refuse pile.

“The zoo?” Said Donna.

“Unoriginal,” Linda said back. “Amy!”

“The aquarium?”

“Cliché. Julia!”

“The natural history museum?”

“Dinosaurs were covered last fall. Mary!”

“The water-treatment facility?”

“Did that in oh-six.” Linda snapped then turned to the skeleton. “Sans?”

“Hmm,” Sans pondered when Linda’s piercing stare fell on him. He tapped his chin and searched the ceiling, putting on an over the top performance of stalling just to irritate her. “I’ve got it! How about the observatory? All kids love space. They could learn how our inventions for space travel have affected our technology today, and how the moon affects the tides, how to navigate by stars. And hey! We could even have our own stargazing party afterword’s, with s’mores and everything.”

Excited murmurs danced around the table. Linda gritted her teeth, her eyes darting from left to right at the parents and guardians nodding in approval. No, she would not let some… some _monster_ win over _her_ underlings.

“Hm, interesting idea, Sans, but have you forgotten the class field trip is right before standardizing testing? Do you really want to screw up our children’s delicate sleep schedules right before their exams and make them _fail?_ Do you want to hold all our kid’s _back a grade?_ ”

All around the table mothers paled. Failing the state test would not only mean repeating the grade, but it would also keep them all trapped under Linda’s tyranny for an extra year. 

Sans narrowed his eyes at the witch at the other end of the table, but Linda glared right back, head held high and cocking a brow in challenge.

“Well?” She asked.

On both sides of the table, the other parents shot pleading, desperate looks at Sans, begging him to fold. As much as Sans doubted such an extreme outcome would happen from one night up past curfew, risking any of these people’s freedom from this woman’s control was not something he was willing to bet with.

Taking the hint, Sans looked away, drawing up his shoulders defensively.

“That’s what I thought,” Linda sniffed triumphantly before turning to Shaniqua. “And do you have anything better?”

“The culture center down town,” Shaniqua said without missing a beat. “With the growing diversity in the classroom, our kids deserve to see more representation.”

“Hm, good suggestion, but that would be a history based field trip. Ours needs to be science based, remember?”

Leaving no room for argument, Linda turned to the next woman; a young mom named Debbie who did her best to go unnoticed. Linda tried her hardest to hide her twisted smile. Tearing into Debbie would be easy.

“And you, Debbie? Do you have any ideas?”

“W-well, I, uh,” Debbie stuttered, looking everywhere except into the eyes of Medusa, lest she be turned to stone. “M-maybe, uh, h-how about…”

“Spit it out!”

“Cave tour!?” Debbie yelped, practically jumping out of her seat before shrinking in on herself. “Th-the kids could go spelunking a-and learn about g-geology?”

Linda opened her mouth to reprimand such an idiot idea before something caught her eye- Sans was no longer slouching, but sitting up right. His freaky glowing lights for eyes had shrunk to pin prick and sweat dotted his brow.

Linda had ruled long enough to recognize the cause of those symptoms no matter who or _what_ they were on, and it only meant one thing; Sans was scared. Fear. Linda could use fear.

“Why… that’s _brilliant_ , Debbie!” Linda applauded. 

“It… it is?” Debbie asked uncertain.

“Of course! Earth Science is often so watered down in the elementary curriculum. What more do our kids learn besides plate tectonics and igneous rocks? Not to mention these tours are an excellent way to get them exercised. Oh! We could even learn about monster heritage while we’re at it! We’ll be accomplishing two things at once by tying in monster culture. Just like you wanted, right Shaniqua?”

If looks could kill… well, Linda would have been dead long ago, but Shaniqua gave it her best shot in light of such back handed offense for Sans’ sake.

“What? No comment? That’s fine! It looks like we’ve found our winner!”

“Woah now, h-hey,” Sans stuttered, sweating profusely. “Let’s not decide just yet. You didn’t call on everyone.”

“Does anyone else have any ideas?” Linda barked at the remaining parents, daring them to speak. They all flinched and shook their heads, praying to be looked over to avoid her wrath. “Well that settles that! Now let’s start looking into cave systems near us and-“

“Woah, hold up!” Sans interrupted, hands trembling. “You can’t just decide for us, Linda. Let’s put it to vote!”

“Vote against what, Sans? All the other ideas were rejected. Or are you trying to say Debbie’s suggestion isn’t good,” Sans shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I just hate to break it to you that all our monster students are just going to find it, well, boring. Shouldn’t this field trip be something all the kids will enjoy?”

“Oh, Sans. You underestimate the imagination of our youth! All the kids will love pretending to be explorers discovering lost treasure below the earth. And the variety of geological formations have excellent potential for being questions on the standardized test don’t you think?”

“Yeah, well when you’ve been trapped in one underground cave for millennia, you’ve been trapped in them all,” Sans muttered not loud enough to be heard.

“Anyone else have any objections?” Linda asked sweetly, but with fire in her eyes. Again, everyone else shook their heads ‘no’. “Then cave tour it is. Now as you all know, I have a parental point system to keep track of how involved each parent is with my PTA, and the nine of you with the lowest scores will be accompanying me on the field trip to get you caught up. So the nine lucky parents coming with me on this field trip are, in no particular order, Amy, Becky, Debbie, Anne, Rachel, Michelle, Mary, Brook, and… Sans!”

Linda watched with satisfaction as Sans’ eyes went completely black and he almost fell back in his chair. 

“What!? There’s no way I have the lowest point score!” Sans spat as he righted himself. “I’m right behind you on the scoreboard!”

“True, but the real ninth person was Shaniqua. You seriously can’t expect her to be traversing underground caves in her condition, do you? Besides, you’ve always been so reliable this year, you wouldn’t dare let us down now! Would you?” 

To Sans that last question sounded more like a threat.

“Of course not.” Sans sneered, out maneuvered for the first time since their rivalry began. “I’ll be there.”

With that, Linda dismissed the meeting, and watched like a predator stalking her prey as the parents and guardians dispersed and fled home for the evening. She kept a special eye on Sans as he helped Shaniqua to her feet, a thin smile on her lips. 

All year this monster had been a thorn in her side, pulling practical jokes, making _her_ look like a fool, and defiling the her prestige as head of the PTA, but finally she would get her revenge. There wasn’t a homemade good that any bake sale could sell that would be this cold or this sweet. After countless attempts to beat him in line with the others, she had finally discovered his weakness.

Who would have guessed mister funny bones was afraid of being underground? This field trip was surely going to be one for the record books.

* * *

It was the Wednesday before test day. All the fourth graders had been reviewing and studying everything they’d covered all school year for the past two weeks, and doing so many practice tests until they couldn’t even sleep without taking a number two pencil with them to bed to bubble in the answers in their dreams. Everyone was exhausted and burnt out and dying for some fun.

With all the fourth graders together, their group totaled to close to one-hundred kids. As that was far too big for any one tour guide to handle, the chaperones divided themselves up into five groups with two adults per party. While all the kids lined up for their last potty break before the tour began, the moms huddled in the gift shop, flipping coins and playing rock, paper, scissors with a military-like seriousness to determine who would pair off with Linda. Becky had lost, but to her surprise as well as all the other guardians, Linda had already orchestrated who her victim would be.

Sans was supervising his group of twenty-something young ones, urging them to pair up in the buddy system. He watched as Monster Kid and Frisk eagerly sought each other out, and began to whisper and pace in excitement, when suddenly Linda crept up on him from behind.

“Sans! I’m so happy to see you still committing as a chaperone despite the reservations you had for this trip,” she said casually prodding to find where it would hurt him most.

“Well you know me,” Sans shrugged. “I always make good on my word. It’s important to stick to your promises and don’t make petty decisions out of spite to intentionally screw someone over, right?”

“Exactly,” Linda said airily, waving away his not-so-subtle accusation. “We’ve got to set a good example for the kids, right?”

“Right.”

“Then let’s let everything that’s happened between us be water under the bridge. In fact, if you apologize to me right now, I will get Mary to take over for you so you won’t have to go down, if you want.”

“ _Me_ apologize to _you?_ ” Sans hissed, his left eye dangerously on the verge of going blue. “I’ve done nothing to you at all this year that I feel sorry for, Linda. _You’re_ the one who should be apologizing for how you treat all the other adults! They just wanted to help the teachers make the school year go by a little easier for them and the students, yet you turned the school into a communist state where you control everyone with totalitarian rule. So no, Linda. I’m _not_ going to grovel to a dictator.”

Linda glowered, her eyes thin slits. “Let it be known I gave you a chance, Sans. This was your choice.”

“Okay, Team Honey Badger!” The tour guide clapped their hands to get everyone’s attention. “We’re ready to descend! That means if you’ve got a yellow bracelet, it’s your time to go down!”

The first group departed, and the next one lined up. Linda acted as though she was being generous by choosing to stick with the last group and let the others go first but Sans knew it was really because she wanted to draw out his discomfort. After nearly an hour of waiting, their time had come.

“Alright, Team Python! We’ve saved the best group for last, and now it’s your turn to go down!” The next tour guide said in an overly saccharine voice obtained from years of practice with public speaking to the tourists. “Flash me your green bracelets and head on out!”

Sans’ soul hammered in his ribcage. It was time to face the music, but he wasn’t going to just listen along. No, he’d play along with them loud and hard and show that arrogant excuse for a house wife that he wouldn’t be phased. He’d been underground before. He wouldn’t _cave in_.

Heh. Even in the face of adversity he still had it in him to make puns. He’d be fine.

The tour started easily enough. When the sunlight vanished and the air grew cold, Sans held it together. Their guide said his piece on how the humidity and temperature stayed constant throughout the year with robotic precision, like he had undoubtedly said a thousand times before. He explained how to tell the difference between stalagmites and stalactites and how each formation took millennia to grow, and why no one should touch them because the oils from your skin (and scales and fur) would prevent further sediment from collecting, thus permanently stunting the formations’ growth. 

So far Sans managed to keep his cool as they moved from one room to the next, but between each chamber where the passages were narrow and poorly lit, Sans walked just a little bit faster. The change was subtle enough to go unnoticed by most, but Linda had secretly been keeping a close eye on the skeleton and caught how he flinched at each shadow. She smiled wickedly to herself and moved to the front of the group.

But Linda wasn’t the only one to pick up on Sans’ anxiety. Throughout the tour, Monster Kid and Frisk hung back to be close to their preferred chaperone. Kid constantly kept whispering how the wishing room in Waterfall would always be cooler, and Frisk nodded along, signing jokes to their friends.

“We call this cave “The Breakfast Nook”,” the tour guide winked, pointing out the flowstones that looked like bacon, the stalagmites that looked like puddles of fried eggs, the cave popcorn and the soda straws on the ceiling. 

_Don’t those fried egg rocks look EGGCELENT?_ Frisk smiled, peaking at Sans for approval, but Sans barely looked their way. Frisk immediately went from carefree to concerned in light of his tense posture, and studied him carefully. Upon closer inspection they found his knees wobbling and fingers curled tight. Even his smile seemed forced.

Frisk was instantly flooded with guilt. It had been moths since their last and final Reset, when they had finally managed to do everything right and made everyone happy, since they had promised to Sans, _vowed_ to him that they’d never send them all back to the Underground, and Sans said that he believed them, but clearly those fears were still there. Frisk reprimanded themself. They should have known a place like this would upset him. They should have played ill and skipped school to give Sans an excuse to stay home with them, but it was too late for that now.

Gently and discretely, Frisk reached out their hand and intertwined it with his. A small squeeze was all that was needed to help him relax, their silent way of assuring _’I’m still here, and so are you.’_

Sans blinked as if coming out of a daydream, his eyes softening at Frisk’s touch.

“Heh. Thanks buddy.” Sans winked. 

_You okay?_ Frisk signed, tipping their head in question.

“I am now,” he reassured them as they trekked to the next room.

The group continued their adventure through the twisting caverns, going deeper and deeper with each step, learning about cave animals from free-tailed bats to dung beetles to blind salamanders and cave fish that lived in the underwater pools. At one point the tour guide began to automatically go into their script about the legend of monsters that lived underground before remembering who was in his audience, to which he awkwardly finished his spiel with a premature end and ushering the group along.

Each new room was more breath taking than the last, with their own unique formations and history, but the tunnels between them seemed to keep getting longer and narrower. In each corridor Sans began to breathe harder, and Frisk squeezed his hand tighter, rubbing their thumb over his knuckles as the only soothing gesture they could provide. It had worked at first, but the action started to lose its potency about half way through the hike.

Linda noticed his crumbling resolve and decided it was time to strike the final blow.

“Excuse me sir, but is it possible we play a little prank on the kids?” Linda prompted the guide while everyone was marveling over another pile of fossilized bat droppings. “You know, give them a little scare by, oh I don’t know, cutting the power?”

“Sure thing, ma’am,” the guide said with that unwavering artificial smile he donned for all the tourists. “It’s something we do for all the school groups. There’s a breaker in the next room.”

“No, no, do it when they least expect it,” Linda urged, her smile growing cruel. “While they’re between rooms. They’ll never see it coming.”

“Can do! You slow them down and I’ll move on ahead after I’ve given my bit here.”

After a thrilling speech about rock density and sink holes and underwater rivers that carved out the very path they were walking on, the group moved on. The tour guide skipped off ahead and Linda slowed the procession to a crawl. This passage was the most claustrophobic yet, forcing her and Sans to duck in some parts, and all the kids to go in single file.

Sans’ soul was racing in his chest, and he had to fight to keep his breathing steady. Frisk had a death grip on his hand, but he hardly felt it. Were they tapping his shoulder? Shaking his arm? He couldn’t tell over how hard he was trembling. Was that a voice calling his name? He thought maybe Monster Kid was talking to him but he couldn’t hear anything over his internal mantra;

_’It’s alright. You’re not back there. It’s okay. Frisk is here. The barrier’s broken. You’re free. They didn’t Reset. You’re fine. It’s alright. It’s okay.’_

And then the lights went out.

All but two of the kids screamed, but their shouts were thrilled instead of scared, and their voices echoing through the tunnels tailed by laughter and giggling.

Somehow, over all the yelling, Frisk still heard that faint but distinct sound of air being sucked in- a sound they had come to associate with Sans whenever he took a short cut. Startled, they flexed the hand they had clasped with Sans’ only to find it empty. Blindly, Frisk began to feel around in the darkness. They bumped into something warm and firm, and exhaled in relief, only to discover that they had found Monster Kid’s scaly face when the lights came back on.

“What just happened?” Kid asked with his face still cupped in Frisk’s palms.

 _I think Sans panicked and jumped away,_ Frisk pantomimed. _I don’t know where too, but I’m worried._

“Me too. We should find him,” Kid declared, eyes serious, and Frisk nodded in agreement. 

Up head, Linda noticed the sudden drop in the adult count, and smiled slyly before continuing on her way.

It was easier for Frisk and Kid to ditch their tour group than they thought. Miss Linda didn’t even look back when they tip-toed off, retracing the way they had come. But once out of sight they hurried along, searching frantically in every room and corridor they’d been through so far. 

All their efforts were in vain when it became clear that Sans would not be found below ground.

Defeated, Frisk and Kid made their way out through the entrance just as a group of regular old tourists lined up for their departure time.

“This doesn’t look good, Frisk,” Kid chewed his lower lip. “What if he teleported all the way back to school?”

 _I guess we’ll just have to wait on the bus until the others come back,_ Frisk sighed and resigned. They made their way to the big yellow bus that sat in the distance, but just as the two friends reached the parking lot, a familiar splash of blue and white caught Frisk’s eye at the picnic area.

There, all alone in the center of the tables was Sans.

* * *

Sans sat at the bench with his skull in his hands. His short cut hadn’t gotten him far, only to the center of the gift shop, much to the alarm of all the other patrons when he suddenly appeared between the kitchen magnets and personalized keychains.

He had bolted out of the store without so much as an apology, desperate to see the open sky and feel the warm sun and breathe the crisp air to remind himself, to prove to himself that he wasn’t _back there_.

He made it as far as the picnic area before collapsing on the first bench he hit so he could catch his breath, and shame washed over his bones when the adrenaline died down. He looked at his watch. It would be roughly another thirty minutes before the first groups returned, meaning it would take Frisk’s group almost an hour before they resurfaced. There was no way he would be able to catch up with them again, even if he could bring himself to go back down.

Sans sighed and slumped over. Damn it all. He thought he’d be better by now, gotten over all those ridiculous fears and irrational worries. Heck, it wasn’t even the same _caves_ and he still couldn’t take it. And what had pushed him over the edge? The dark. He fled like a toddler afraid of the dark. He thought he could do this. He should have been able to do this. But instead he left his pal alone in the dark and ran like a coward to save himself.

Oh, poor Frisk. He hoped they’d forgive him for leaving them to the mercy of that vile serpent of a woman.

Something tapped Sans’ shoulder. What now? Some employee coming over to tell him that the picnic tables were for paying visitors only or something? He raised his skull just high enough to uncover one eye socket to find-

“Frisk!” Sans jumped at the sight of his friend. “W-what are you doing back here?”

Frisk didn’t reply. Instead they simply buried their big smiling face into his shirt as they embraced their monster chaperone in a much-needed hug.

“Dude! We found you!” Monster Kid said close behind, shaking off some dirt he had accumulated from a stumble that could have only happened seconds before. “You alright, man? We got worried when you vanished.”

“Yeah. I’m fine now,” Sans smiled, his grin sincere and full of gratitude. “Sorry ‘bout ditching you back there, but you two know better than to leave the group. What would I have done if you two had gotten lost or hurt?”

 _We had each other. We were fine!_ Frisk argued. _You were alone. We were more scared for you._

“Heh. Thanks buddy. But I’m sorry I made you miss half the tour.”

“Eh, no worries,” Kid shrugged. “You’ve seen one cave, you’ve seen ‘em all.”

“You got that right.” Sans said, finally feeling at ease again. “Hey, this place as a food court. Hows about we skip the prepackaged PB and Js and eat some real food?”

Frisk nodded enthusiastically, and Kid whooped, hopping from foot to foot.

“Alright. Lunch is on me.”

Fifteen minutes later the trio were eating a hot meal of burgers and fries under the trees when Cave Tour Security swarmed the scene.

The tours were halted as search and rescue swarmed the entrance, and all the current cave explorers made emergency exits. Back up top, the chaperones and students clustered near the exit, talking in hushed voices.

“Hey, what’s goin’ on over there?” Sans asked as the adults corralled the kids away from the excitement to give security room to work.

“A chaperone and two students have gone missing underground and-” the lady did double take at the trio eating lunch at the bench, her mouth dropping open in shock. “You’re right here!”

“Oh. I guess I am.” Sans said pretending to be astonished. He winked at Kid and Frisk, causing them to giggle uncontrollably.

The other adult broke away, running back to the nearest officer to tell them the lost students and guardian had been found. In a matter of minutes the entire fourth grade was reassembled and security was lining up, ready to fill out an incident report. Once the drama died down, Linda came storming up, ready to reignite it with fresh contempt. 

“Well, I hope you’re happy, Sans!” she scolded, arms crossed and lips sneering. “Look what you’ve caused! You’ve forced us all to end early and ruined the entire field trip for everyone! What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Oh, I have plenty of words I’d like to say to you, Linda,” Sans met her gaze unflinching. “But unfortunately I’m not allowed to use that kind of language in front of our very impressionable youth.”

“Oh, don’t get smart with me! You left the group without permission, disrupted the organization and endangered the lives of two children! You should be begging me not to have you expelled from the school for what you did!”

“Hey! That is not what happened!” Sans shouted his defense, putting himself between Frisk and the hag’s hungry stare. “I had a panic attack and my knee-jerk reaction was to get out quick, okay? I didn’t take the kids with me. They came after me on their own accord.”

“Oh, don’t try to pass off the blame to them, Sans!” Linda hissed. A crowd was gathering, parents and students alike watching with morbid fascination like a herd of zebra watches a pride of lions tear apart one of their own. “Your actions today have proven that you are clearly unfit to be a legal guardian, much less on the PTA! I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle going on this trip, which obviously proves you can’t take the responsibility for being head of the PTA next fall. Everything you’ve done this year was just an act! Now I’ve shown everyone how incapable you are!”

“Wait,” a tiny voice so quiet and soft spoke up. “You knew?”

Linda and Sans both turned to find Frisk, visibly trembling, but still calling out Linda’s claim.

“You knew Sans would get scared, but made him go on the field trip anyway?” 

Frisk’s voice. It was so rarely heard that when it was used everyone stopped to listen carefully. Miss Linda scared Frisk. So much so that their voice would run and hide for days, making them unable to talk to anyone, even around those they felt were safe. But Frisk needed their voice more now than ever, so they dared to talk anyway. Taking a deep breath, Frisk looked up and met Linda’s eyes.

“Why?”

“Yeah, Miss Linda,” Monster Kid joined in, backing Frisk up. Unlike Frisk, he didn’t let his fear show and stared Linda down with full-confidence knowing that she could do nothing to harm him with a hundred plus spectators. “Why’d you make Sans do that?”

“W-well, I was short on volunteers-“

“Yeah, right, Linda!” Rachel piped up, suddenly feeling invincible surrounded by a shield of witnesses. Gosh darn it, if a kid could stand up to Linda, she could too! “The teachers would have loved to come on this trip! But you practically forbid them leaving their classrooms!”

“B-but I wanted to prove that Sans wasn’t fit to take over the role as PTA president next year-“

“By ordering him to do something he clearly expressed made him uncomfortable?” Becky retorted, fed up with hiding on the sidelines while the only adult who had a chance in hell of standing up to Linda was being forced to take a long walk on a short plank. “Phobias don’t automatically label you as an unfit leader, but I’d argue exploiting them does!”

Whispers and rumors rolled through the crowd, and Linda’s head snapped from side to side, looking for an escape.

“Could forcing someone to face a phobia be considered cruel and unusual punishment?”

“What would the principal say about this?”

“Forget the principal! Once the board of directors hears about this, they’ll have no choice but to over throw her!”

One by one, the faces of the other adults turned to Linda with a newfound fearlessness in their eyes. With an unspoken word, they banned together, finally able to stand up against the unfair treatment they’d had to endure and deliver some much needed justice that was long overdue. After the mutters died down, one parent boldly stepped forward through the crowd. It was Debbie. Not so shy and reserved now.

“Linda, we parents have talked, and have decided to hold an emergency officer vote.”

“Y-you can’t do that!” Linda screamed. “The entire PTA has to be present!”

“Becky and I are getting everyone on Group Chat now,” said Michelle, furiously texting away on her smart phone. 

“Group Chat?” Linda swallowed, and Sans bit back a chuckle. Seems like this medieval dragon wasn’t very up to date with current technology.

“First vote; the impeachment and immediate removal of Linda from the Presidency. All in agreement say ‘Aye’!”

The eight chaperones declared their vote with force, followed by a dozen text message alerts agreeing in turn. Even several of the students spoke up.

“Aye!” said Frisk.

“Bucko, as much as I appreciate the support, you’re not eighteen yet.” Sans reminded them. “Your vote won’t count.”

Frisk pouted.

“There now seems to be a new vacancy in the chain of command that must be filled post haste.” Debbie said. “Do we have any nominations for the president’s seat?”

“I nominate Sans!” Said Amy. “He’s funny and kind and actually gives a damn about the teachers and kids instead of how much money we can raise, and showing up other schools.”

“I second that nomination!”

“Me too!”

“Me three!”

“Alright! Alright! Let’s put it to vote,” Debbie persuaded. “All who want Sans to be the next president of the PTA, say ‘Aye’!”

“Aye!” said a hundred voices, young and old, as well as an endless stream of cellphone alerts.

“Well that settles that,” Debbie smiled, doing her best Linda impression. “It seems the vote is unanimous. Linda, you are relieved of your presidential duties immediately.”

“You! You can’t do this!” Linda raged, practically foaming at the mouth. “He can’t possibly handle the responsibility of running the PTA as smoothly as I did! He’ll crash our organization into the ground!”

“Aw, don’t get your fanny pack in a twist, Linda,” Sans said, speaking out for the first time since the other parents stood up for him. “There are so many great guardians and grown-ups on our team, it would be inane to try to run everything by myself when we could share the work load. Just because I’m president doesn’t mean I’m going to go around insisting that my word is law, like _some_ dictators I know. Sorry, _former_ dictators.”

Sans nudged Linda’s arm with his elbow and gave her a wink. Linda recoiled as if Sans had infected her with the plague. 

“You think you’ve won but don’t get cocky, skeleton. You haven’t seen the last of me!” She shouted.

“Well, duh. I’ll see you at after school pick up.” Sans said under his breath as he watched her flee to the parking lot in shame to hide on the bus standing by to shuttle them home.

“Thanks for having my back, guys,” Sans said to the remaining ladies behind him. “I sure didn’t come on this field trip planning to go back as the prez, but with your help maybe we can finally make our school better and not just richer.”

“Yeah! We’re with you all the way, Sans!” Debbie smiled and shot him two thumbs up.

“Well, at least until our kids head off to middle school.” Said Anne, and good-natured laughter rolled through the crowd.

“I hate to say it, though, but Linda was right about one thing,” Becky said sheepishly. “We’ve only been here half the day, but the field trip is ruined. What will we do now?”

“Hm, maybe it’s not too late to go somewhere new. How about that? Two field trips in one day?” Sans winked at Frisk who hugged his arm. “I hear the planetarium’s got group specials.”

“Great idea! We can all pitch in and pay out of pocket for once.” Said Rachel, before squinting her eyes in disgust. “Though I’m really not looking forward to sitting next to that witch on the bus again.”

“Eh, forget about it,” Sans said. “I know a better way of traveling that will save us on gas and avoid all the traffic.” Sans pulled Monster Kid and Frisk in tight, nodding at the other to follow suit. “Now everybody gather close. I know a short cut.”


End file.
